The flag of Montenegro

Zastava Crne Gore · since 2004

A red field with a gold border and the coat of arms in the centre: a gold double-headed eagle with a lion passant on its breast. Adopted on 13 July 2004, while Montenegro was still in a state union with Serbia, it revived the alaj-barjak, the great war flag of the Petrović dynasty, and replaced a red, light blue and white tricolour. It was kept at independence in 2006 and written into Article 4 of the Constitution of 2007.

Montenegro, 1:2. flagcdn.com, public domain.

At a glance

Adopted: 2004; 13 July 2004
Proportion: 1:2; height to length
Colours: red, gold
Earlier flags: 8; since 1451
Designer: 1; Radoslav Rotković

The colours

The colours of the flag of Montenegro, in the order it has them

0180.1%
Red
crvena
The field
HEX
#E30000
RGB
227 0 0
CMYK
0 100 100 0
Pantone
186 C
RAL
3020
0219.9%
Gold
zlatna
The border, the eagle and the lion
HEX
#FFC000
RGB
255 192 0
CMYK
10 30 90 0
Pantone
117 C
RAL
1012

No law gives these codes. HEX and RGB are the colour this site draws the flag in; CMYK, Pantone and RAL are the values most often published for it.

Construction

How the flag is drawn

A red field inside a gold border, with the coat of arms at the centre: a crowned gold double-headed eagle holding a sceptre and an orb, with a shield on its breast showing a gold lion passant on green ground under a blue sky.

Border: Gold, 1/20 of the flag's height wide, painted on the cloth rather than a fringe
Coat of arms: Two thirds of the flag's height, its centre on the centre of the flag
Forms: Horizontal, mostly used outdoors, and vertical, mostly used indoors

Other forms

Vertical flag: The vertical form, mostly used indoors, with the arms kept upright.

Meaning

What each part stands for

Red field with the arms: The alaj-barjak, the great war flag, which the government presented as the state flag of the Principality and then the Kingdom until 1918. Surviving examples vary; some have a silver border and a white eagle
Double-headed gold eagle: The arms of the Crnojević dynasty, taken up by the Petrović dynasty. The Petrović eagle was silver, like Serbia's; one heraldist read the change to gold in 2004 as a way to tell the two apart
Lion passant: Came into Montenegrin use under Venetian rule, as the emblem of the Venetian authority

Who drew it

Radoslav Rotković: Credited with the design

History

How the flag of Montenegro got here

1451: Zeta
1451 → 1496
A red flag with a gold double-headed eagle, for the medieval state of Zeta.
Image: Germenfer, CC BY-SA 4.0
1516: The Prince-Bishopric
1516 → 1852
A white cross pattée on red. The main flag was the alaj-barjak, the regimental colour, whose only symbol was a cross.
Image: Spesh531, CC BY-SA 3.0
1767: Šćepan Mali
1767 → 1773
The first written description of a Montenegrin flag: white, with a red frame and a gold cross on top of the staff.
Image: Desemeus, CC BY-SA 4.0
1852: Prince Danilo
1852 → 1860
The cross gave way to a white double-headed eagle with the initials DI on its breast, over a lion passant, on red.
Image: B1mbo, CC BY-SA 4.0
1860: Prince Nikola
1860 → 1905
Danilo's flag with the initials changed to NI.
Image: B1mbo, CC BY-SA 4.0
1905: The red, blue and white tricolour
1905 → 1918
The state flag of the Principality and, from 1910, the Kingdom: red, blue and white with a white double-headed eagle. The plain tricolour was the civil flag. The colours follow the Serbian flag, itself the Russian tricolour reversed.
1946: People's, then Socialist, Republic
1946 → 1993
The tricolour with a red star in place of the royal arms, as a republic of Yugoslavia. It was identical to the flag of Serbia.
1993: Republic of Montenegro
1993 → 13 Jul 2004
A horizontal tricolour of red, light blue and white in equal stripes at 1:3, inside the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and then the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Image: Zirland, CC BY-SA 2.5
2004: The red flag with the gold borderIn use
13 Jul 2004 → today
Adopted by the law on state symbols and first hoisted on state buildings in place of the tricolour. It became the flag of an independent state after the referendum of 21 May 2006 and was raised at the United Nations on 28 June 2006.

The law

What defines it, and who flies it

12 July 2004

Law on State Symbols and the Day of Statehood of Montenegro

Voted by the Assembly on 12 July 2004 and in force the next day, proclaimed Statehood Day. Gave the government 60 days to produce the full specification. Amended in 2011 and 2019.

16 September 2004

Decision on the standard of the flag of Montenegro

The specification, with construction details and colours in CMYK. Published on 17 September 2004. It settled that the zlatni obrub of the law is a painted border, not a fringe. A new decision on the standard followed on 6 March 2020.

19 October 2007

Constitution of Montenegro, Article 4

The flag of Montenegro is red with the coat of arms in the centre and a gold border.

In use

Flown permanently on the Parliament, the official premises of the President, the Prime Minister, the presiding judges of the highest courts, the Supreme State Attorney and the Ombudsman, and the President's residence
Flown on Statehood Day and other state holidays on buildings of state bodies, at missions abroad, on aircraft and ships, and at polling stations
Flown at half-mast on days of mourning declared by the government
Takes the place of honour when flown in Montenegro with the flags of other states or organisations, and may never touch the ground

Related flags

Serbia: From 1946 to 1992 the two republics flew the same red, blue and white tricolour with a red star, and the 1905 tricolour followed Serbia's colours.

Coat of arms

The flag of Montenegro

Red

Gold

The arms of Montenegro